Posted on 11/20/2005 12:12:25 PM PST by SandRat
COLUMBUS, N.M. — For Capt. Brendon Dever, the landscape he reviewed from a knoll was almost like home.
Born and raised in Arizona, Dever was recently in New Mexico taking part in Operation Western Vigil, a mission supporting the U.S. Border Patrol in locating illegal activities crossing the international boundary.
The soldiers are not authorized to apprehend any illegal immigrants or drug smugglers, but they do provide information of where those engaged in illegal activities are located.
“We are the gathers of intelligence,” Dever said.
Dever is the S-2, the intelligence officer, for C Troop, 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment from Fort Lewis, Wash. Within the troop is a human intelligence platoon and an unmanned aerial systems platoon, along with other specialized reconnaissance capabilities provided by scouts.
Many of the soldiers’ combat skills are being used in New Mexico.
In combat, Stryker units would be involved in rounding up people like insurgents. That is not happening as part of the support operations under Joint Task Force North. The soldiers do not carry weapons during the border surveillance mission. The Border Patrol provides security — force protection.
The task force’s headquarters is at Fort Bliss, Texas. The organization’s mission is providing volunteer military units to support federal agencies with military assets while also providing America’s armed forces with training that help the units maintain their mission proficiency.
Dever said C Troop’s lessons in New Mexico can be used when the unit is called upon to deploy again to a place such as Iraq.
The troop, without Dever, has already served in Iraq. It is expected to come up in the rotation to return to Iraq perhaps as early as next year.
While the unit was in Iraq, Dever was attending the military intelligence officers’ course at Fort Huachuca. He then went to South Korea for a year prior to being stationed at Fort Lewis. He was an infantry officer prior to branch transferring to the Military Intelligence Corps.
Lt. Col. Jeff Peterson, the squadron commander, said the training being done by his unit provides a two-for-one payoff. The soldiers who have served in Iraq sharpen their skills in a similar environment. The new soldiers get a taste of what they may experience later.
Although there are many military occupation skills in the squadron, the New Mexico training provides an opportunity for soldiers to cross train from one job to another, Peterson said.
Spc. Christopher Bullis is a medic. But one day last week, he was sitting in front of one of the special optical viewers looking across a New Mexico valley.
During part of his training he spotted a group of people walking into the United States.
They were more than four miles away, he said while taking a break on a Stryker named “Circus Clown.”
“We walked the (Border Patrol) agents to them,” the Boston native said.
He was credited with the apprehension of 21 illegal immigrants and 81 pounds of marijuana.
“I’ve learned a lot about this unit,” the medical specialist said.
With the main mission of the squadron being reconnaissance, the more soldiers who can operate some of the high-tech equipment the more eyes will be looking for enemies, Peterson said.
“The veterans (of a previous Iraqi deployment) mentioned how realistic this training is,” the squadron commander said.
During their more than 30-day gig in New Mexico and Texas, the squadron has been responsible for nearly 2,000 apprehensions of illegal immigrants and more than a half ton of marijuana, according to a U.S. Border Patrol leader.
Peterson said helping to secure the border also is part of the payoff.
Deming Border Patrol Station agent-in-charge Richard Moody said the unit and Joint Task Force North “have enhanced the Border Patrol’s ability.” The squadron’s efforts have been significant as a force multiplier for the Border Patrol.
With the unit’s optical equipment, the soldiers look for illegal activities and report what they see to the Border Patrol agents, which frees the agents to go out and apprehend, Moody said. The surveillance done by the soldiers eliminates that time-consuming work by agents.
Training rotations
Along a state highway in southeastern New Mexico, eight Strykers were off the road as soldiers scanned the border area.
The area is not far from Columbus, N.M., which was attacked by forces of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa in the early 1900s, setting the stage for a punitive expedition into Mexico led by Gen. John “Blackjack” Pershing. The expedition, which included soldiers from Fort Huachuca, occurred just before the U.S. entered World War I, where Pershing became the Army’s top commander.
Joint Task Force North planner Lt. Col. Dan Drew said the organization and its predecessor, Joint Task Force Six, have provided 5,000 support missions since 1988.
The Stryker function in New Mexico is the second one in the state. Plans are for another Stryker squadron to come to New Mexico, Drew said.
Whatever unit is tasked is based on that organization volunteering, which is made easier when an organization sees the extra training that can be achieved.
C Troop commander Capt. Larry Jordan, whose unit’s call sign is Crazy Horse, said the special optics, called the Long Range Scout Reconnaissance System, has proved its value to the Border Patrol.
And the training has proved valuable to the soldiers.
When he was with the troop as the operations officer from November 2003 to November 2004, a mission along the Syrian border with Iraq included searching for people involved in smuggling operations.
“The terrain and the environment here (New Mexico) is similar,” Jordan said. “The only difference is bullets aren’t flying.”
Peterson said the troop’s training is more than just watching for illegal activities crossing the border.
The troop is divided into three functions, which rotate through a number of scenarios and training missions.
While a third of the troop is directly supporting the Border Patrol, another third is at a training facility operated by the Department of Homeland Security in Playas, NM., not far from where the border missions are happening, Peterson said.
At the Playas facility, the troop’s soldiers are learning urban warfare procedures, he said. His unit’s scouts have been and will be called upon to go house-to-house and “recon” streets as part of the unit’s mission in the former mining town.
Another third of the troop is at Fort Bliss, where they go through live-fire weapons training and convoy training.
Each part of the troop will rotate through each portion of the training.
Dever knows about border problems
The wide open areas of New Mexico may be new to Peterson, Jordan and Bullist. But, it isn’t for Dever.
Dever’s dad is Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever. The Army officer said he knows a lot about border problems, having grown up in Southeastern Arizona.
The sheriff has been in the center of border control issues for years, seeking federal help to address the. For a few years, the county was the major entry point for illegal immigrants along the entire border with Mexico.
With a tightening of the border in Arizona through the Border Patrol’s Arizona Border Control Initiative, which is in its second year, some of the illegal trafficking of people and drugs is moving into New Mexico.
Within the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, C Troop’s nearly 500 soldiers are the brigade’s main reconnaissance and intelligence platform, the captain said.
“We build situation awareness for the brigade about the terrain, infrastructure, security needs, all information to help the brigade commander make decisions,” Dever said.
For Operation Western Vigil, the Border Patrol and Joint Task Force North intelligence assets worked together a lot to develop a plan, Dever said.
Part of the operation was preparing a collection plan that was approved by the Border Patrol.
“I worked pretty closely with them,” Dever said.
Having grown up in a household where law enforcement was the major subject of many discussions, Dever said the problems with the porous border between Arizona and Mexico is something “I’ve been aware of my whole life.”
The connection between the Border Patrol and local law enforcement is nothing new.
The Army supporting border operations is good because the military has the equipment to help control border problems, the captain said.
Dever said he told his father he needs to obtain a Stryker reconnaissance vehicle.
“It sure would help him,” the captain said with a broad smile.
Interesting.
ping
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Support our Minutemen Patriots!
Be Ever Vigilant ~ Bump!
A 500 man Cavalry troop?
That does sound like a lot.
Has the reorganization of Brigade Combat Teams coupled with Stryker fielding create recon units of that size? Or has our erstwhile senior reporter (Bill Hess) done his usual mis-reading of his notes? Probably the latter.
I too suspect the later as 500 is the approximate number for rough calculation on the size of a BN/TP. I emphasize rough.
Looks like his dad too. I bet he has his dads sense of fair play as well. I met Sheriff Dever several times on the April MM Project. Quite a guy, perfect for the job.
500 sounds more like a Squadron.
Could be.
Two birds, one stone, minimal extra money spent....I'm liking this!
Bump.
You are correct, it is very interesting and we can be proud of these warriors.
It's changing soo fast I can't figure it out anymore with accuracy.
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